Patent Applications Grow in China, but Global Quality Gap Remains

A total of 751,000 applications for invention patents were handled in China in the first half of 2018 as strong growth in the area continued, according to the State Intellectual Property Office.

By the end of June, more than 1.47 million valid invention patents were held on the Chinese mainland, equivalent to 10.6 for every 10,000 people, said Hu Wenhui, spokesman for SIPO, at a news conference on Tuesday.

Chinese applicants submitted more than 23,000 applications via the Patent Cooperation Treaty through SIPO in the first six months of 2018, an increase of 6.3 percent year-on-year, Hu said.

Nevertheless, Bi Nan, director of planning and development at SIPO, said the quality gap between Chinese patents and those from abroad is obvious, especially in some core technology fields including optics, electrical machinery, audio-visual technology, medical technology, transportation and computer technology.

Bi said that by the end of June, domestic patents outnumbered those from overseas in 32 of a total of 35 technical fields set by the World Intellectual Property Organization. But for patents that have maintained their validity for more than 10 years, there are fewer domestic patents than overseas ones in 28 of 35 technical fields.